Streptopelia orientalis
Painted by Peter Paillou on 10th December 1748, this watercolour of the Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur) forms part of the Taylor White Collection, a body of 18th Century natural history illustrations distinguished by their precision and quiet elegance.
Description of the Turtle Dove
The Turtle Dove is a slender, elegant member of the pigeon and dove family, once a familiar sight across the British countryside in summer. It is readily identified by the warm, tortoiseshell-like patterning across its back and wings, where chestnut feathers are edged in black, giving a scaled or mottled effect. The breast is a soft, dusky pink, fading to pale grey towards the belly, while a distinctive patch of black and white striped feathers marks each side of the neck, a feature shared with related dove species.
The Range of the Turtle Dove
Migratory by nature, the Turtle Dove would arrive in Britain each spring, having travelled from wintering grounds in sub-Saharan Africa, before departing again in early autumn. Paillou’s watercolour captures this seasonal visitor with the same careful attention to plumage and form found throughout the Taylor White Collection, reflecting the meticulous observational standards of 18th Century natural history illustration.
This watercolour stands as both a scientific record and a work of quiet artistry, offering a window into the natural world as observed and documented in the mid-1700s.
c.1720 - c.1790
Peter Paillou (c.1712-1782) was a natural history painter of Huguenot descent, born in London to a family that had emigrated from France in the previous century. He trained under the London painter Jacob Tribble before establishing himself as an animal and bird painter. Following Charles Collins's death in 1744, Paillou took over as the principal artist for the naturalist and collector Taylor White, contributing well over 100 signed watercolours of birds, mammals and reptiles, with many more attributed to him on stylistic grounds. He continued to paint for other patrons throughout his career, including the naturalist Thomas Pennant, whose zoological illustrations Paillou supplied for British Zoology and Arctic Zoology, and was later elected a member of the Society of Artists, exhibiting watercolours of birds in London. Paillou died in 1782.
Credit: Taylor White Collection, Rare Books & Special Collections, McGill University Library.